Sunday, December 18, 2016

At the time of this post, there are only 2 weeks...that's 14 days...or 336 hours...or 20,160 minutes before the 2016 Close To My Heart Holiday Expressions Idea Book retires. Most items will be retiring for good...never to be seen again. In fact, the Snowflake Thin Cuts and the City Sidewalks Digital Cricut Collection have already sold out and there will surely be other items that don't survive until December 31st. We may get lucky and find some favorites in the Clearance section in the weeks and months ahead...but there's no guarantee. With that in mind, I'm not risking it. I'm going to grab more of my favorite paper collection, Oh Deer! and some items that I've yet to purchase, like the Autumn Wishes stamp set and a Thinking of You Cardmaking Kit. If you haven't given the CTMH Holiday Expressions book a glance lately, I suggest you do so sooner, rather than later.

To help make it easy (and hopefully a little enjoyable), I've made a little video that highlights the items that are in the book and are retiring. You can also view the online catalog here. So take a look and see if there's anything you can't live without. ;)

If you would like to purchase any of these items, or any other CTMH products, please head on over to my website, paperheartist.ctmh.com. I would appreciate your support! :)

Saturday, December 10, 2016

I have created four layouts using Oh Deer! Workshop Your Way. A couple of the layouts are based on layouts offered by Close To My Heart...with my own twist, of course, and the other two are all mine. I wanted to play off the gold and silver that the complements contained, by adding silver and gold foil tape. It's the perfect complement to this collection. I also wanted to demonstrate a few techniques, so continuing with the gold and silver theme, I added embossing to a couple of layouts, paper tearing and sanding.

I still have three full sheets of pattern paper left, which will drive me NUTS! LOL So there's a very good possibility that there could be another project before my workshop rolls around.

But for now, here are the four layouts that we will be making on January 7th.

LAYOUT #1 - Delight In this layout we will be doing a little stamping and heat embossing.

Here you can see the gold embossing. Such a great touch, I think. How perfect is this mini stamp with this paper line? Can you believe that stamp is only $2.95?!

LAYOUT #2 - Joy In this layout, we're going to combine paper tearing and embossing with gold AND silver. :)

I didn't want the layout to be specifically for Christmas, so I camouflaged it with silver foil tape and the pine cones. However, you could leave off the foil tape and lower the pine cones if you wanted. The full sentiment reads, "Joy of the Season".

Here's a perfect picture of the paper tearing and embossing of both gold and silver. Love it!

LAYOUT #3 - Simple Pleasures Keeping this one simple, but oh, so pretty (if I say so myself). Using the gold and silver foil tape to play of the gold and silver foil in the Complements. Notice too, the flexible theme. It definitely could be used for holiday photos if you wanted, but this could be used for photos from any time of the year.

Honestly, one of my go-to techniques is to use foam tape to add dimension. You can take pretty much any sticker, add foam tape, brush on baby powder to neutralize the exposed adhesive, remove the backing on the foam tape and VOILA, instant dimension and interest! I have to say, too, that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Close To My Heart's foam tape. It's now offered in two thicknesses, thin and regular. But my favorite thing about CTMH's dimensional adhesive is that it is on a roll, so I can cut it to any size I want, even cutting it down the middle to make thin strips. The fact that it is on a roll makes it the perfect adhesive for making shakers, because you can cut it so there are no gaps. Even the finest of glitter won't leak out. See what I mean in the project I shared here.

See that wood grain star? That's part of the Oh Deer! assortment. They are made of bamboo!

This is one of the 18 Picture My Life cards that come in the paper pack. Just an example of how you can utilize these cards for traditional scrapbooking.

This picture is perfect for showing just how perfect the gold and silver foil play off of the Oh Deer! complements.

LAYOUT #4 - Winter Wonderland Using the Flower Market Cricut collection to create the die cuts for this layout and we will be sanding the white core cardstock to create the look of snow. Cool, huh? (No pun intended.)

This layout also uses a touch of White and Sea Glass Glitter paper, along with the option of using the shimmer pen on the title.

Would you like to make these layouts? There's several ways...

LOCAL WORKSHOP:
When: Saturday, January 7th at 10 a.m.
Where: Rockledge, Florida (I'll send you the address when you register.)
Cost: $46
This workshop kit consists of one Oh Deer! Workshop Your Way kit (#G1116), which includes...

Digital file with full-color photos, cutting and assembly instructions, with a private link to additional photos (so you can zoom in on the photos to better see details).

Please note that the White Daisy cardstock used in the above photos are to represent suggested photo placement. Extra paper for this purpose does not come with the kit. They are strictly used to provide a suggestion for photo arrangements. However, you may purchase extra sheets of White Daisy cardstock at the workshop for $0.50 a sheet if you want to make your own photo templates.

If you would like to attend in person, simply send me an email HERE. Spaces are filling up quickly!

WORKSHOP KIT TO GO:
Can't make it to the local workshop? No problem. If you are local, I can still prepare a kit for you and you can pick it up at my house at no additional charge. If you aren't local, I will be happy to ship it anywhere in the US, via USPS. Just email me with your zip code and I'll send you an invoice (via Paypal) with the exact shipping.

PRECUT WORKSHOP KIT TO GO:
This workshop kit is precut and sorted for your convenience and includes only the precut papers and needed twine and embellishments to complete the layouts as shown. However, you will receive two full rolls of the gold and silver foil tape. You will also receive a digital file with assembly instructions and a private link to additional photos. Cost is $56 for locals and $56 plus shipping. Simply email me with your zip code and I will send you a Paypal Invoice with exact shipping costs.. Please note that the White Daisy cardstock used in the above photos to represent photo placement does not come with the kit. They are strictly used to provide a suggestion for photo arrangements.

You will still need the following supplies to complete the layouts as shown:

INSTRUCTIONS ONLY (for consultants)
If you would like to receive an e-file with the full-color instructions & cutting guide, along with a consultant release to enable you to use my my designed layouts for your own business, simply join the current month's Shopping Gathering Link and make a $20 purchase on my personal CTMH SHOPPING WEBSITE. Next, email me to let me know that you would like the instructions and I will email you to them at no additional charge. If you are a consultant outside of the U.S., please EMAIL ME for your option to purchase the e-files. Note: I will email you the link to the CDS cutting file for the layout #4, but you could still cut the Cricut cuts directly off of your machine.)